Wilson, Jeremiah W.

WILSON, HELPHREY, FENLON, NEWELL, BAUM

Posted By: Volunteer Transcriber
Date: 10/24/2009 at 11:05:23

Wilson, Jeremiah W.

An enumeration of those men of the past generation in Jasper County who won honor and recognition for themselves, and at the same time honored the locality to which they belong, would be incomplete were there failure to make mention of the well remembered and highly revered gentleman whose name introduces this biographical memoir, Jeremiah W. Wilson, late of Newton, who has been called to a higher sphere of action by the fate that awaits all mankind, but the good he did during a long and strenuous life will long mould and pervade the lives of those with whom he came into contact.

Mr. Jeremiah W. Wilson was born on August 8, 1834, in Lawrence County, Pennsylvania. When a boy he attended an academy at Poland, Ohio, and afterwards entered Mt. Union College, in the same state. Early in life he evinced a laudable ambition to follow the legal profession and began reading Blackstone and other authorities with McSweeney & Given, in the City of Wooster, Ohio, one of the strongest law firms in the north part of the state in those days. He made rapid progress and was admitted to the bar at Medina, Ohio, September 21, 1855. The following year he moved to Newton, Iowa, where he continued to reside until his death on May 6, 1887. His widow has continued to live there in her attractive and neatly kept home, which is regarded by her many friends as a place of hospitality and good cheer.

Mr. Wilson was an attorney who ranked second to none in this part of the state, being well grounded in the principles of jurisprudence and very painstaking and vigilant in his research. He took an abiding interest in public affairs and in October 1861, he was elected County Judge of Jasper County, which high office he held with much credit to himself and to the satisfaction of all concerned until in August of the following year when he resigned to offer his services in defense of the Union, enlisting in Company K, Twenty-Eighth Iowa Volunteer Infantry. He proved to be a very faithful and gallant soldier, and for meritorious service he was promoted to the rank of adjutant of his regiment in 1864, which rank he held until the close of the war, winning the hearty approval of his superior officers and the admiration of his men. After being honorably discharged he returned to Newton and resumed the practice of law. On January 1, 1878, he was appointed aide-de-camp to Governor Kirkwood of Iowa, with the rank of lieutenant colonel, and he remained as such while the administration of Governor Kirkwood lasted, giving, as usual, the utmost satisfaction.

Mr. Wilson had taken a great interest in Masonry. From the annals of the grand lodge of Iowa in 1878 we take the following exactments by Hon. H. S. Winslow, gives the Masonic history of the deceased brother Wilson: His Masonic history is a most honorable one; he was initiated in Newton Lodge No. 59, January 28, 1858; he passed July 31st of that year and joined on August 28th following. The Royal Arch Degree was conferred upon him in Gebal Chapter No. 12, October 21, 1869. He was knighted in Oriental Commandery No. 22, March 22, 1872. His daily life indicated that he attempted to carry out the lofty precepts of this worthy and time-honored order.

Mr. Wilson was united in marriage in 1859 to Mary M. Helphrey, a lady of culture and refinement and the representative of an excellent old family. She was born in Utica, Licking County, Ohio, and she was the daughter of Jacob and Catherine Helphrey, who moved to Newton, Iowa, where they were residing when the subject was married. To this union three children were born, namely: Mrs. W. W. Fenlon, of Clinton, Iowa; Mrs. P. W. Newell, of Los Angeles, California; Mrs. Dollie Baum, of Newton, Iowa. They were all well educated and are very comfortably situated in life and highly respected wherever they are known, each reflecting the wholesome home atmosphere in the midst of which they were reared.

Mrs. Wilson, whose cozy and attractive home is located at No. 221 South Vine Street, Newton, is spending her declining years in the midst of plenty and she has a host of warm loyal friends who delight in her genial company. Past and Present of Jasper County Iowa B. F. Bowden & Company, Indianapolis, IN, 1912 Page 951.